Three patients are being treated at the The Royal Free Hospital for the coronavirus.

Chief medical officer for England Professor Chris Whitty said on Monday (February 10) the number of UK cases had risen to eight, with four further patients having tested positive.

The Royal Free has confirmed it is treating two new cases, bringing the total number of patients being cared for at its specialist centre up to three.

The hospital said: "We are treating an additional two patients with Wuhan novel coronavirus at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH), which means there are a total of three patients with the condition at the RFH.

"The RFH is one of a small number of specialist centres in England for treating infectious diseases such as coronavirus.

"As the patients are being treated in isolation, there is no risk to any other patients or visitors.

"All of our services remain open as usual, so if you have a hospital appointment please attend as planned."

Earlier on Monday Prof Whitty said: "Four further patients in England have tested positive for novel coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases in the UK to eight.

"The new cases are all known contacts of a previously confirmed UK case, and the virus was passed on in France.

"Experts at Public Health England continue to work hard tracing patient contacts from the UK cases. They successfully identified these individuals and ensured the appropriate support was provided."

On Sunday (February 9), the Royal Free said: "We are currently treating a patient with coronavirus at the RFH.

"The RFH is one of a small number of specialist centres in England.

"As the patient is being treated in isolation, there is absolutely no risk to any other patients or visitors."

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The death toll in China from the virus has now risen to 811.

Four adults and a nine-year-old child previously tested positive for coronavirus were done so after they came into contact with a British national who had recently returned from Singapore, the French health ministry said.

The five British nationals, who are not in a serious condition, were staying in the Alpine resort area of Contamines-Montjoie near Mont Blanc.

French officials said the British national who was in Singapore returned on January 24 and stayed for four days in the area in eastern France, before returning to England on January 28.

The five Britons whose diagnosis was confirmed, as well as six compatriots with whom they had close contact, were taken to hospitals on Friday night in Lyon, Saint-Etienne and Grenoble.

It is understood the third case confirmed in the UK is a man who caught the illness in Singapore.

He is reported to be a middle-aged British man and is understood to be the first UK national to contract the disease.

He is thought to have been diagnosed in Brighton and was transferred to St Thomas' Hospital in London, where there is an infectious diseases unit, on Thursday afternoon.

Two other patients who had recently travelled from China are being treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary infectious diseases centre in Newcastle.

One is a student at the University of York, while the other is a family member.

Another plane carrying British citizens evacuated from the coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan landed in Oxfordshire.

The flight, with more than 200 people on board, including some foreign nationals, arrived at RAF Brize Norton shortly before 7.30am on Sunday.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was the second and final flight to be chartered by the government and had British government staff and military medics on board.

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